Falling Rocks
by Crystalhart XVI
Summary: For me, training wasn't an option. It was the only way I could find the truth- about my parents death, and, well, who I really am. For once, I'm not going to run away.
1. Perfectly Fine

_Note: Pokemon does not belong to me, blah, blah, blah, etc._

I hop out of the car, decidedly green. Put me on a boat more than a few minutes, and then drag me into a car? Not acceptable. The sky was pretty much a murky gray color, matching the oddly malodorous fumes coming from the car. (You can probably guess where that came from) I was in a pretty rotten mood. Basically, I had just left behind my friends so I can live in this… er, glorified bathroom. "_This_ is it? Seriously? Mum, I wouldn't even be able to fit my freaking BATHTUB in here! What was the point of moving here, anyways?" My parents step out of the car, and proceed to wince and stutter.

"You see…" Mum mutters, "We were having… financial trouble, so we had to move here. Come on, it might not be as bad as it looks- I mean, it's not all that bad is it?" I grumble and lug my suitcase out of the car and into the house. I drag it through the halls, and my dad directs me to my room. I chuck my suitcase on the floor, push a pile of boxes off my bed, and shove my face into my pillow.

"Great. I've been relocated."

"It isn't all that bad," Mum calls. "By the way, school starts tomorrow, so make sure you have your uniform ready!" I leap out of bed.

"Uniform? I have a uniform?"

Silence.

"You left it behind?" My dad says desperately. "That was expensive, you know…"

"… crap." I flop back onto my bed as my parents sigh loudly and begin talking. I roll over miserably and look at the ceiling. My eyes flutter shut, and everything spins.

Why, hello, motion sickness. It's nice to see you back. Not. '_Great_,' I think dispiritedly. '_It's only the first day, and I already hate Hoen_n.


	2. Inferno

Pokemon does not belong to me.

If you don't like it, don't read it.

Inferno

Life can be a real shocker sometimes. So, I was kind of getting used to the new routine. Life didn't actually seem so bad, after all. It was actually pretty much like Sinnoh, really.

"You've got to be kidding. You drink coffee with ice cream, sugar, milk, lollipops, marshmallows, AND whipped cream?" I ask incredulously. "Mm-hm, but you forgot the caramel. It tastes really good!" I stifle the urge to laugh hysterically and puke at the same time, and slump against the wall. "I repeat, you have GOT to be kidding, Ni-chan."

"Nope, not at all, Clair-chan!" Nina answers with our typical half-English, half Japanese dialect. Kind of a weird habit, I know, but having a pair of outgoing Japanese twins as a few of your best friends can make you learn a lot of random Japanese things.

"But Ni-chan, that's just-!"

"Weird, I know. What's the world coming to these days, anyhow?" A voice interrupts mine; I turn around, grinning, as my friend hurries down the hall.

"Yeah, I just don't know-" I'm cut off by a loud, crackly voice.

"Clair, please report to the office immediately." The loudspeaker booms, and all I can do is jump. Like, whoa? I spend the whole day trying to pay attention in class and not get into any trouble, and I get dragged over to the office? Life just isn't FAIR. I lug myself over to the small room and slouch over to the main desk. "Hi," the receptionist-person says. "How may I help you?"

"Um… I, um, got called over to the office. Uh, my name's Clair?" The receptionist starts. "C-clair? Oh, go through that… door over there." She jerks her thumb at an opaque screen door, and I stumble towards it. "Hello, please sit down," my homeroom teacher greets me, albeit in a panicky voice. I sit in a small wooden chair.

"Mrs. Nichol? What are you doing here?" She starts, and mutters, "There… there was an accident. A car accident." I raise my eyebrows, and she continues, more loudly. "Between a drunk driver and your parents." I shoot out of the chair and it clatters to the floor.

"What do you mean, my parents?" I scream. Mrs. Nichol pauses, and mournfully says, "They… didn't survive." I run out of the room and straight through the halls. In moments, I'm sprinting down the road and into the woods, doing anything to get away. Branches, thorns, and leaves scrape the sides of my face as I blunder through the brightly lit forest. Sunshine plays on my face when I stop and lean forward, my breath coming fast. Silence rings in my ears except for the occasional chirp. When my breathing gets back to normal, I start running, again.

Somehow, I find myself clinging onto the one tree in my yard, the thick leaves blocking me from humanity. I cling to the tree for dear life, and press my cheek against the rough bark. I sniff and wipe my eyes, and relax my hold slightly. (Not enough to fall, though. Jeez, I'm not suicidal) I close my eyes and just think.

_ What're they going to do with me, anyways? Send me to an orphanage? Okay, that really doesn't appeal to me. But what else can they do?_

I ruminate all the possibilities of the near future until a quiet voice tugs at my ears. I slide down silently and press my back against the tree and listen. "…the house. Didn't they have some kid?" Derisive laughter rings out. "Don't worry about that. Come on, let's go." Footsteps slowly fall away, and I separate myself from the tree and follow them. I tiptoe through the house until they reach my parents' room. "Remember, we have to find everything. You got it?" I hear a low grunt, and a few clatters and shuffles. "Alright, that's all that's important. What're we going to do with the rest, though?" A slow pause follows their words, and I strain to hear.

"I don't know… we'll find out once we're out, 'kay?" The footsteps ring again, louder this time. Before I can move, there's a gun pressed against the side of my face. I flinch, and squash myself against the wall in a futile attempt to get away. "Um… I mean you no harm?" I say weakly, laughing nervously.

"X2, we've got a witness. What should we do?"

"Lock the windows, X5. Lock the doors too." My escape routes are closed off, and I stay very still. "What're you going to do?" The gun leaves my head, and I hear a sadistic laugh.

"You'll see." They leave and I slump down. I stay sitting there until I hear a sharp crackling noise followed by an odd roar. When I look through the doors and see a sunset colored inferno, I slam them immediately.

"Crap, crap, double crap…" I pound on the windows and the door, but nothing happens. The flames are licking at my feet when I finally get an idea.

Sorry it's so short, but I was being kind of lazy.

Constructive criticism would be very helpful.


	3. Depart

_BIG FAT DISCLAIMER: POKEMON DOES NOT BELONG TO ME, AND IT NEVER WILL_

_That should tide you over until the end of this. Sorry, this chapter's kind of lame._

_If you don't like it, don't read it._

Depart

I spot a break in the flames and sprint through, the white-hot flames singing my hair. Without stopping, I hurl myself into a charred wall, yelping as it gives way under my weight. When I land on my lawn, I stand up, panting heavily. I stare at the fiery mess, and for a moment, everything is frozen for a moment.

Time moves again, and I crumple back to the floor, everything turning black.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, the only constant being the unending, searing pain.

XoxOxo

"Clair, you should become a trainer." Commence falling out of chair sequence.

"WHAAAAT?" After I'd got out of the hospital, I was at a loss as to where I would go. So, after long hours of negotiation, I ended up in Nina's house.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I SHOULD BECOME A TRAINER?" I shout incredulously. "But I'm only fourteen," I protest futilely. "If I was even going to become a trainer, I'd have started at my tenth birthday!" Nina shrugs and rolls her eyes. "Clair-chan, there have been trainers who started at fourteen. One of the elite four in Sinnoh even graduated college, remember?"

"It would actually work," she says thoughtfully. "You would be traveling, so you wouldn't need a permanent home. You'd also get money from battles, so that would be taken care of." I sigh.

"Yeah, well how am I supposed to even get a pokemon? I don't have enough money to buy a magikarp." I sigh and clamber back into the squishy confines of my chair.

"We could buy a bunch of pokeballs and just throw them at pokemon and hope we catch them." I snort. "Like that's going to work. They're not going to be easy to catch if we don't even damage them a bit." Nina giggles and rises from her chair. She inhales loudly and drags me out of my chair, raising one fist heroically and pointing at the door.

"Onward, noble steed!"

"What's a steed?"

"Like a ponyta."

"I'm NOT a ponyta," I grumble grumpily, stomping to the door. "Are you sure?" Nina grins at me, teasing. "'cause things aren't always what they seem."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I think I'd KNOW if I was a ponyta. Fiery mane and all, you know?" We leave the house and navigate the streets until we reach a small pokemart. I wander around for a moment, grabbing up a few capsules as I go.

"Five pokeballs, please." I hand over a wad of cash, grabbing the five capsules and holding my hand out for my change. The clerk drops a few coins into my hand, and I leave the store. Nina and I head out to the small path leading to the Rusturf tunnel (a tunnel that connects Rustboro to something-turf town) and begin our search.

When I hear a rustle, I turn around, pokeball at the ready. An adorable, light brown pokemon with big ears and a fuzzy white chest yelps in surprise. "E! Vee, vee!" I gawk for a moment, and hurl my pokeball at the eevee. It falls to the ground and wobbles, ever so slightly, once… twice… three times…

And eevee bursts out of the pokeball and heads straight for my face. "Ow!" I hurl the eevee somewhere in the tall grass surrounding me and clutch at my cheek. "Cheeky little bugger," I mutter quietly as I wipe my face off. I pull another pokeball out of my bag when something pink flashes into my vision. I yelp and stick my hand out for protection. When a red light flashes and my pokeball starts fidgeting, I drop it immediately.

After it beeps and fidgets three times, I cross my fingers. "Pleasepleasepleaseplease," I beg silently, and the gods answer my prayers. The ball clicks, and I stare in disbelief. "WHO'S COOL NOW, HUH?" I walk forward and pick it up, clipping it to my belt. With a triumphant smile, I walk back to Nina's house and holler, "GUESS WHO JUST CAUGHT A POKEMON!"

Quitting school was actually less of a hassle than I though it would be. I just signed a few papers, and I was off. "So, which pokemon did you catch?" I shrug sheepishly. "Um… I have absolutely no idea? I'm probably going to let it out soon. It's pink, I think."

"That rhymes- pink and think… Whoa, youneedtogetgoingnow!" Nina glances at her watch and bounces out of her chair. "Bye, Clair-chan! Call me everyday, and send me lollipops!" She hugs me affectionately.

"…Lollipops…?" I snort and turn my head to look into the mirror for the first time in a long while. Pale hazel eyes set in a slightly tanned face stare back at me, the petite mouth turned slightly upward into a half smile. My hand runs through my light brown hair, my crew cut becoming messier than ever.

"Well, that's that," I sigh, turning around. "Bye, I guess. Smell 'ya later." I pick up my backpack and pull on a black cap, turning it backwards.

As I walk out the house, I sling my backpack around my shoulders and sigh. Pulling a map out, I squint at it for a moment, and rush off. After a short bit of hard sprinting, I'm standing in front of a pokemon center.

"Hello, how may I help you?" A grumpy, tired looking nurse stares at me. "Do you have a trainer card?" I shake my head, and she groans. "More work for me then." After a bit of typing, a small ID card slides out of a slot in the computer. She swipes it under a flashing red light and passes it to me. "Sign here, please."

I scribble a messy signature on the back and hand it to her. After a moment, she picks it up again. "Here." She hands it to me and I accept it. "Thanks," I mutter as I pocket it. I walk aimlessly through the busy streets until I reach a huge park. "Can't hurt," I decide, pushing the small gate open. My feet squish against the grass as I stroll through the lightly flowered glade. I yawn quietly and walk until I find an empty part.

I sit down and rub my eyes. Unclipping the pokeball from my belt, I stare at it for a moment, indecisive, until I finally hurl it onto the ground. "Go!" A flash of white light comes out, and a shape materializes through the glow.


End file.
